What Is Scm?

What is SCM? And, Where is It?

AUTHORS

Paul D. Larson is associate professor of transportation and logistics in the College of Business at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Arni Halldorsson is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Operations Management at Copenhagen Business School in Frederiksberg, Denmark.

This article provides insight on the evolution and emergence of the supply chain management (SCM) concept and shares conclusions about the future of SCM from the perspective of educators, researchers, and practitioners. Based on a survey of SCM educators, the article seeks to delimit the SUMMARY scope or domain of SCM and how the boundaries have changed and continue to change. This is done by contrasting four perspectives on SCM versus purchasing: traditionalist, relabeling, unionist, and intersectionist.

Supply chain management (SCM) remains a topic of considerable interest among supply practitioners and academicians. Academic journals are being created or renamed; business schools are offering SCM programs; professors are altering their titles and research interests. This flurry of activity, across multiple business disciplines, makes the scope of SCM unclear. Guided by a recent survey of educators and careful review of an academic journal, this article seeks to delimit the real meaning and scope of SCM. The article is organized into the following sections: introduction and overview, definitions of SCM from the literature, perspectives on the SCM versus purchasing issue, survey results from ISM educators, content analysis of The Journal of Supply Chain Management, and finally, implications of the results for research and practice are offered.

INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS SCM?

The Journal of Supply Chain Management: A Global Review of Purchasing and Supply Copyright © November 2002, by the Institute for Supply Management, Inc.™

The Institute for Supply Management™ (ISM), founded in 1915, serves more than 49,000 member professionals. Its...